Paper pulp defibering or refining plate and method of manufacturing it

ABSTRACT

A paper pulp defibering or refining plate in accordance with the invention comprises a comminuting surface having a large number of ridges separated by grooves. The plate body is made from a first material such as stainless steel or cast iron providing the overall mechanical strength of the plate in use. The upper part of the ridges is a layer of an abrasion resistant material based on grains of tungsten carbide bound in a metal alloy whose melting and brazing characteristics are appropriate to laser resurfacing on the plate body. The ridges are resurfaced successively by scanning a laser beam and a powder spray nozzle in one or more passes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns plates for defibering or refining paperpulp, having an abrasion resistant comminuting surface for breaking upclumps of fibers.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In paper pulp defibering or refining machines such as those described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 3,117,603 and 4,423,845, for example, two plates rotatingrelative to each other each carry an assembly of circular sector shapedplates disposed in a circular ring, the operative surfaces of the plateshaving generally radial grooves and being made from an abrasive materialsuch as alumina, zirconium oxide or silicon carbide, for example. Thecomminuting surface thus has a large number of ridges separated bygrooves, the shape of the ridges and grooves being carefully chosen todefiber the paper pulp. The material inserted between the plates flowsin the radial grooves and the shape, spacing and direction of thegrooves determine the size of the paper pulp fibers obtained. Thedimensions and the position of the plate must therefore be highlyaccurate.

The refining and defibering plates usually employed at present are madeeither from cast iron alloys known as NIHARD cast irons or fromstainless steel.

The ridges on the plates tend to wear down with use, due to the abrasiveeffect of the paper pulp fibers or abrasive materials that the paperpulp contains. The resulting progressive deformation of the ridgesrenders the plate unusable after a period which is usually not verylong.

Cast iron alloy plates are manufactured by casting. When worn down theyhave to be discarded.

Stainless steel plates wear more quickly, but they can be recut whenworn to restore the initial profile of the grooves. This can be doneonce or twice. However, recutting tends to weaken the plate and is acostly operation.

One proposal for extending the life of paper pulp refining or defiberingplates is to exploit the advantageous properties of harder materialssuch as grains of tungsten carbide.

For example, document EP-A-0 480 851 proposes to produce an abrasionresistant surface comminuting or refining plate by infiltration of amolten brazing alloy into a heap of grains of tungsten carbide in amold. This technique requires a mold and therefore cannot be used forresurfacing an existing comminuting or refining plate.

Document WO-A-91 02841 proposes the application of an abrasive surfacelayer to a refining plate by using a laser beam to melt the surfacelayer of the steel substrate and spraying onto the molten surface layeran abrasive material such as tungsten carbide in the form of powder witha particle size between 120 microns and 2.5 millimeters. The resultinglayer is abrasive and necessarily thin because only one melting andspraying pass is possible. This treatment tends to weaken the substrate,by reducing the thickness of its homogeneous metal part. Also, thesurface layer does not have good abrasion resistant properties.

Document WO-A-92 11941 proposes the manufacture of a refining plate withan abrasion resistant layer by cold isostatic pressing of a mixture oftungsten carbide powder and a powdered alloy of iron, nickel, chromium,carbon and molybdenum. The tungsten carbide content is low, beingbetween 10% and 50% by weight of the mixture of powders. This techniquerequires a mold and a costly high-pressure press and is thus notapplicable to resurfacing an existing defibering or refining plate.

The problem to which the present invention is addressed is that ofdesigning a new paper pulp defibering or refining plate structure and amethod of manufacturing it, the plate having improved abrasionresistance, without reducing the mechanical strength of the body of theplate, and a greater efficiency in use.

In particular, the invention is directed to increasing the abrasionresistance of the tops of the ridges, which constitute the most heavilyloaded areas of the plate, whilst favoring flow of paper pulp in thegrooves.

To this end, the basic idea of the invention is to resurface the top ofthe ridges selectively using an appropriate abrasion resistant material,retaining for the base of the ridges and the bottom of the grooves amaterial which favors flow of paper pulp. Flow is improved by thepolishing effect of the flow of paper pulp.

The problem is then how to carry out this resurfacing at reasonablecost, with good homogeneity and good adherence to the body of the plate,using a resurfacing material containing a high proportion of hardabrasion resistant material, with a sufficient resurfacing thickness,and without distorting the body of the plate, in order to preserve theaccuracy of the geometrical shape of the plate.

The solution of the invention is to resurface only the tops of theridges of the plates by means of a laser beam in association with apowder injector.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, a paper pulp defibering or refining plate in accordancewith the invention comprises a comminuting surface having a large numberof ridges separated by grooves and such that:

the plate body is made of a first material adapted to provide theoverall mechanical strength of the plate in use,

the upper part of the ridges is made from a layer of a compositematerial based on a powdered hard abrasion resistant material bound in abrazing metal alloy whose melting and brazing characteristics areappropriate for laser resurfacing of the first material.

This constitution of the upper part of the ridges exploits the abrasionresistant properties of the hard abrasion resistant material and thebrazing metal alloy, which are harder than the first material formingthe body of the plate. In service, this leads to the appearance ofrelative roughness consequent upon progressive emergence of the hardgrains from the alloy matrix binding them together.

The effect of this relative roughness can enhance the mechanicalproperties of the paper made from paper pulp refined by this means.

This constitution of the upper part of the ridges also exploits the goodmelting properties of the brazing alloy which binds the grains of hardabrasion resistant material into a homogeneous and mechanically strongmatrix in which the grains are strongly bound even when present inproportions by weight exceeding 50%, its relatively low melting pointprotecting the hard abrasion resistant material grains from excessiveheating which could damage them.

The body of the plate, the lower part of the ridges and the bottom ofthe grooves can be made from cast iron or stainless steel. This retainsthe good surface properties of stainless steel or cast iron in thegroove bottoms to facilitate flow of paper pulp in said grooves.

The composite material forming the upper part of the ridges canadvantageously be formed of grains of tungsten carbide bound in a metalalloy based on nickel, chromium, silicon, iron and boron.

The method in accordance with the invention of manufacturing a paperpulp defibering or refining plate comprises a stage of laser resurfacingof the upper surfaces of the ridges of a plate body in a first materialusing a laser directing a laser beam onto an impact area scanned alongthe upper surfaces of the ridges to be resurfaced and associated with apowder spray nozzle directing onto the impact area of the laser beam apowder based on a hard abrasion resistant material and a brazing metalalloy adapted to be melted by the laser beam and to be brazed to saidfirst material, adhering to the grains forming the hard abrasionresistant material powder, the laser beam having an intensity sufficientto melt the surface of the first material and to melt the brazing metalalloy powder in the area of impact.

Each ridge can advantageously be resurfaced in a number of successivepasses during which the area of impact of the laser beam and of thepowder is scanned along the entire length of the ridge in alternatedirections, the laser beam being focused on each pass in an impact areaslightly larger than the width of the ridge, the movement of the laserbeam being reversed beyond the ends of the ridge. In this way theresurfacing thickness can be further increased.

The advantage of the method is that resurfacing can be carried out toproduce a surplus thickness which is then reduced by machining toproduce sharp lateral edges of the ridges again.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention emergefrom the following description of specific embodiments of the inventiongiven with reference to the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one particular form of paper pulp refining ordefibering disk that can be produced in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a circular sector shaped paper pulp defiberingor refining plate which can be produced in accordance with theinvention.

FIG. 3 shows a laser resurfacing device for implementing the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing a nozzle for injecting powdercoaxial with the laser beam.

FIG. 5 shows the displacement of the coaxial nozzle and the laser beamfor resurfacing a ridge of a plate in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show the displacement of a lateral nozzle and theassociated laser beam in a different embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 shows the successive stages of resurfacing a ridge of a plate inaccordance with the invention in transverse cross-section.

FIG. 9 shows the internal structure of a ridge resurfaced in accordancewith the invention, after machining and in transverse cross-section.

FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c show the movement of the focus of the laser beamin a first embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 11a, 11b, and 11c show the movement of the focus of the laser beamin a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a view in transverse section to a smaller scale of theinterface area of a laser deposit in accordance with the invention.

FIGS. 13 to 15 show the relative movements of the workpiece to beresurfaced and the laser beam on a ridge to be resurfaced.

FIG. 16 shows in transverse section the succession of ridges on a plateresurfaced in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing a ridge resurfaced in accordance with theinvention with an intermediate area in which the resurfacing isinterrupted by means of a mask.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in plan view in FIGS. 1 and 2, the paper pulp defibering orrefining plates comprise a comminuting surface having a large number ofridges separated by grooves.

In FIG. 1, the plate is in the form of a continuous ring and the uppercomminuting surface comprises ridges such as the ridge 1 distributed ingroups of parallel ridges, each group forming one sector such as thesector 2 or the sector 3, the ridges of two adjacent sectors 2 and 3having different orientations. A plate of this kind can be made in onepiece, with a plate body made of a first material such as stainlesssteel adapted to provide the overall mechanical strength of the plate inuse. The upper part of the ridges is a layer of a composite materialbased on a hard abrasion resistant material powder bound in a metalbrazing alloy whose melting and brazing characteristics are suitable forlaser resurfacing of the first material.

In the FIG. 2 embodiment the paper pulp defibering or refining plate isan annular sector, a plurality of identical sectors being fastenedtogether on an annular base to form a member similar to that of FIG. 1.The sector 4 of FIG. 2 is also formed of series of parallel ridges suchas the ridge 5, the parallel ridges being divided into a plurality ofgroups, for example a first group 6 and a second group 7. The ridges ineach group are parallel, the ridges of two adjacent groups 6 and 7having different orientations. In this second embodiment, shown in FIG.2, the plate body can be made from cast iron, the upper part of theridges being constituted by a layer of abrasion resistant materialsimilar to that of the FIG. 1 embodiment.

Accordingly, as shown in transverse section in FIG. 16, the plate body 8of a paper pulp defibering or refining plate in accordance with theinvention is made from a first material such as stainless steel or castiron providing the overall mechanical strength of the plate in use. Thefigure shows four ridges 9, 10, 11 and 12 separated by respectivegrooves 13, 14 and 15. The respective upper parts 16, 17, 18 and 19 ofthe ridges 9 through 12 are formed by a layer of a composite materialbased on a hard abrasion resistant material powder bound in a metalalloy. The composite material forming the upper part of the ridges 9 to12 can advantageously be in the form of grains of tungsten carbide boundin a brazing metal alloy based on nickel, chromium, silicon, iron andboron.

The percentage by weight of tungsten carbide in the composite materialcan advantageously be between 50% and 70%. This high concentration oftungsten carbide, in excess of 50% by weight, is made possible by theresurfacing method in accordance with the present invention.

The tungsten carbide can advantageously be in the form of substantiallyspherical grains of tungsten carbide.

The stainless steel or cast iron plate body 8 forms the lower part 20 to23 of the respective ridges 9 to 12 and the bottom 24 to 26 of therespective grooves 13 to 15.

The abrasion resistant material upper part of the ridges usually has aheight of around 1 millimeter, whereas the stainless steel or cast ironlower part of the ridges is usually about 6 to 8 millimeters high,depending on the type of plate.

A paper pulp defibering or refining plate of this kind is manufacturedstarting with a plate body 8, either a brand new plate body or a platepreviously used and the ridges of which have been partly worn down bythe abrasive paper pulp. The upper surfaces of the ridges on this platebody are resurfaced using a laser to scan the upper edges to beresurfaced associated with a powder spray nozzle directing onto theimpact area of the laser beam a powder based on hard abrasion resistantmaterial and a metal alloy adapted to be melted by the laser beam and tobe brazed to the material forming the plate body 8.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a laser resurfacinginstallation which can be used in implementing the invention. Thisinstallation comprises a power laser 27 producing a beam 28 of coherentand monochromatic light. The beam 28 propagates in one direction only,homogeneously, and has only one wavelength. There is very littledivergence of the beam.

A set of mirrors 29 and 30 directs the beam onto a focusing head 31. Thefocusing head 31 directs the laser beam onto the surface to beresurfaced of the plate body 8. The focusing head 31 is adapted to focusthe laser beam so that the latter impinges on the plate body 8 in asmall impact area 32. For example an area with a diameter between about0.5 and 5 millimeters.

A powder dispenser 52 constitutes a reservoir holding a powderedmaterial for resurfacing the plate body. This powder contains grains ofhard abrasion resistant material which remain solid when exposed to thelaser beam and grains of brazing alloy which melt when exposed to thelaser beam. The powder dispenser 52 is adapted to fluidize the powder bymeans of a neutral gas such as argon or helium and to convey itpneumatically to a spray nozzle 33 via powder feed lines 34. The spraynozzle 33 is adapted to shape the fluidized powder leaving the nozzleinto a convergent jet impinging on the same impact area 32 on the platebody 8. The fluidized powder jet leaving the nozzle must be as closelyas possible coincident with the shape of the laser beam 28 in this area.

The powder dispenser 52 is of a type in which the mass flowrate ofpowder can be precisely controlled, in order to achieve excellentreproducibility and perfect regularity of the flowrate, which parametershave a direct influence on the regularity and the quality of theresulting resurfacing.

The laser beam impinges on the surface of the plate body 8 to beresurfaced close to the vertical. The outlet orifice of the nozzle 33 ismaintained at a constant distance of approximately 10 millimeters fromthe surface to be resurfaced.

The plate body 8 is placed on a table 35 which is moved horizontally intwo directions X and Y by drive means controlled by a numericalcontroller 56. This causes the area of impact 32 of the laser beam andof the powder leaving the spray nozzle 33 to be scanned over the surfaceof the plate body 8 to be resurfaced.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 the spray nozzle 33 is of a first typewhich sprays coaxially with the axis I--I of the laser beam 28. Thefluidized powder moves in a helix coaxial with the laser beam 28 and thepowder jet 36 is concentrated in order to concentrate the area of impactof the powder onto the area of impact 32 of the laser beam 28 on theplate body 8 to be resurfaced. This impact area 32 is at the top of aridge.

FIG. 5 shows progressive resurfacing by displacement of the plate body 8in the direction 37. In the area of impact 32 the laser beam 28 meltsthe brazing alloy powder, which is brazed to the plate body 8, bindingthe grains of abrasion resistant material and, upon cooling,progressively forming a deposit 58 on the top of the ridge beingresurfaced.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 the spray nozzle 33 is alateral spray nozzle which sprays the powder at a given angle to thelaser beam 28. The powder jet 38 is preferably in the vertical planethrough the ridge to be resurfaced. The plate body 8 is scannedlongitudinally of the ridge, in alternate directions, as shown in thefigures.

The energy of the laser beam 28 melts the surface of the plate body 8 inthe area of impact 32 and melts the brazing alloy powder. The powdertherefore impinges partly melted on the surface of the plate body 8. Thealloy powder is trapped on the surface and melts further duringinteraction of the laser beam 28 with the plate body 8, so forming adeposit.

To match the resurfacing exactly to the upper surface of the ridges thelaser beam has to be controlled so that the area of impact 32 has adiameter substantially equal to the width of the ridge to be resurfaced.

The thickness of the deposit is between 0.3 millimeter and 1.5millimeters for a first pass. The processing speed can be from a fewcentimeters per minute to a few meters per minute, depending on thepower of the laser 27. A ridge can be resurfaced in a single pass if thethickness of the deposit is sufficient.

For resurfacing to a greater thickness a ridge is resurfaced in a numberof successive passes during which the area of impact 32 of the laserbeam and the powder is scanned along the entire length of the ridge, inalternate directions. The laser beam 28 is focused on each pass in animpact area 32 slightly larger than the width of the ridge. Thesesuccessive passes are effected by moving the ridge longitudinally, withthe laser beam impacting the top of the ridge perpendicularly, and witha coaxial spray nozzle or a spray nozzle on the axis of the ridge amultilayer thick deposit is formed without changing the original widthof the ridge. FIG. 8 shows the multilayer deposit, for example, with theplate body 8, the base 20 of the ridge and a succession of resurfacinglayers, for example five layers 39 through 43. The flanks 44 and 45 arealigned with the sides of the ridge base 20, as shown in the figures,with virtually no projection or recession.

All that is required thereafter is to machine the upper surface of theresurfacing to obtain a rectangular ridge cross-section as shown in FIG.9 with a base 20 in the first material constituting the plate body 8,for example stainless steel or cast iron, and a top layer 16 of abrasionresistant resurfacing material whose flanks 44 and 45 are aligned withthe flanks of the base 20 and whose upper surface 46 is machined to theheight of the other ridges. Within the resurfacing layer 16 there are nodefects in homogeneity caused by formation of the multilayer deposit.The distribution of the hard abrasion resistant material, such astungsten carbide, grains is uniform within the metal matrix, regardlessof the number of layers deposited.

FIGS. 10a, 10b, and 10c show a first method of adjusting the laser beam28, with a focus F above the plate body 8 to be resurfaced. By varyingthe distance between the focus F and the surface of the plate body 8 tobe resurfaced the diameter of the area of impact 32 of the layer beam 28can be varied, as shown in FIGS. 10a, 10b, and 10c.

FIGS. 11a, 11b, and 10c shows a second method of adjusting the laserbeam 28. In this second method the focus F is below the surface of theplate body 8 to be resurfaced and varying the distance of the focus Ffrom the surface of the plate body 8 also varies the size of the impactarea 32 of the laser beam 28.

In all cases the adjustment is such that the impact area 32 has adiameter substantially equal to or slightly greater than the width ofthe ridge to be resurfaced.

As shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 the movement of the laser beam 28 relative tothe plate body 8 to be resurfaced is reversed beyond the ends of theridge being resurfaced. Likewise, the laser beam 28 is turned on beyondthe ridge. Thus in FIG. 13 the laser beam 28 is turned on before theplate body 8 reaches the beam as it moves in the direction of the arrowshown in the figure. Referring to FIG. 14, this movement causes the topof a ridge on the plate body 8 to be resurfaced. Referring to FIG. 15,reversing the movement of the plate body 8 as shown by the arrow 47 iscarried out when the laser beam 28 is no longer impinging on the platebody 8. This avoids edge effects at the start of processing and at each180° turn at the end of a ridge.

At each 180° turn the position of the focus F is modified to compensatefor the height of the deposit previously formed, and thus to maintain aconstant diameter of the impact area 32.

In some parts of the plate body 8 the resurfacing must be interrupted.For example, FIG. 17 shows a plate structure with a hole 48, for afixing bolt, for example. When a hole 48 like this passes through aridge, as shown in the figure, the resurfaced upper layer 16 of theridge must be interrupted. To achieve this, a mask 49 is inserted in thehole 48 during resurfacing, the mask 49 being made either from amaterial which reflects the laser beam or from a material which absorbsthe laser beam and is adapted to break down when heated. The mask 49 canbe made from copper, for example, to reflect the laser beam.

The method in accordance with the invention has the advantage ofaccurate reproduction of the geometrical shape of the resurfaced ridges.The plate body 8 is relatively little affected by the heating effect ofthe laser beam during resurfacing and its distortion due to thermalexpansion is thus extremely small or even negligible.

The bond between the resurfacing and the plate body 8 is excellent, asit is achieved by surface melting of the substrate. This is ametallurgical bond which makes the resurfacing very strongly adherent.The resurfacing obtained is homogeneous, non-porous and produces only asmall dilution of the substrate. These features are shown in FIG. 12,which shows a regular distribution of the grains 59 of tungsten carbidein the metal matrix 50 and a thin layer 51 bonding the metal matrix tothe substrate 8.

The grains of tungsten carbide 59 are not affected by the laser beam,the present method differing in this respect from plasma sputtering. Thegrains therefore retain all their mechanical properties, and inparticular their hardness is not reduced. This has the advantage that anabrasion resistant material based on generally spherical tungstencarbide grains can be used.

The very high rates of solidification obtained by virtue of the highlylocalized heat treatment produce a very fine microstructure within theresurfacing matrix, and consequently excellent mechanical properties. Inparticular, the metal matrix based on nickel and chromium has a highhardness, not less than 600 HV.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments specificallydescribed but encompasses various variants and generalizations thereofwithin the scope of the following claims.

There is claimed:
 1. A method of manufacturing a paper pulp defiberingor refining plate, the plate comprising a comminuting surface having aplurality of ridges, each of the ridges having an upper surface, theridges being separated by grooves, the method comprising the steps of:a)directing a laser beam onto an impact area on the upper surface of oneof the ridges, b) spraying onto said impact area a powder made of grainsof an abrasion-resistant material and a brazing alloy, and c) moving theplate so that the laser beam and powder are scanned over a region to becoated with said abrasion-resistant material, wherein the laser beam hasan intensity sufficient to melt said upper surface and to melt thebrazing alloy powder in the impact area, but not sufficient to melt thegrains of the abrasion-resistant material, wherein the brazing alloybecomes brazed to the upper surface of said one of the ridges, whereinthe brazing alloy also becomes brazed to the abrasion-resistantmaterial.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein each ridge has a width, alength, and two ends, and wherein each ridge is coated with theabrasion-resistant material in a plurality of successive passes duringwhich the impact area is moved along the entire length of the ridge,according to a motion in alternate directions, wherein on each pass theimpact area is slightly greater than the width of the ridge, wherein thelaser beam has a direction of movement relative to the plate, whereinthe direction of movement of the laser beam is reversed beyond the endsof the ridge.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein a powder spray nozzle,coaxial with the laser beam, is used to impart to the powder a motioncoaxial with the laser beam and to concentrate the powder onto saidimpact area of the laser beam.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of varying a size of the impact area by varying afocal length of the laser beam.